Quiet Stories is an Auckland based video game developer, dedicated to telling interactive stories and tackling New Zealand's youth mental health problem. However there is one thing we care about more than making games, and that's playing games! Every week on this blog we share podcasts, videos and articles where we celebrate, analyse and interview other incredibly talented developers in the industry. So for an abundance of gaming content check out Quiet Stories on Twitter (OurQuietStories) or on YouTube and Facebook (Quiet Stories).

Quiet Stories’ Video Game Book Club: June 2018

This is the first official edition of the Quiet Stories’ Book Club, a monthly series where we challenge you to beat at least one of the games on our list. We’ll have expansive and time consuming games, for gamers on a limited budget. We’ll have smaller, more digestible titles, for gamers with little spare time. We’ll showcase a variety of genres and platforms. We’ll recommend the newest, most talked about games, and some older titles that you probably heard about but didn’t give the time of day to. The point is, we’ll have something to cater to everyone’s needs. Hopefully you’ll end up trying something new or discover a hidden gem.

For our first month, what’s old is new. Here are 8 older games we recommend you pick up from a bargain bin and try out.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC

Estimated Time to Finish: 6 hours

I wasn’t really a fan of The New Order but have spoken very highly of The New Colossus’ narrative in articles. The Old Blood is kind of like the Blood Dragon or Undead Nightmare of the Wolfenstein reboot series. It has the same great gunplay, with a little less narrative and a whole tonne of wacky zombie fun.

Nier: Automata

Platforms: PlayStation 4 and PC

Estimated Time to Finish: 20 hours

It isn’t Platinum Games’ best work but it’s definitely more on par with Bayonetta than The Legend of Korra. The open world is barren and the visuals are scarcely better than a PS2 title, yet Platinum’s trademark combat and intriguing story of androids vs machines kept me going. The game can’t seem to decide what genre it wants to be. Sometimes it plays like a top down arcade shooter, at other times you’re experiencing an open world action RPG. It can feel disjointed but mainly helps break up the pacing of the game. You’ll also have to play through the campaign at least three times to get the full story.

King Oddball

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Vita, PC and Mobile

Estimated Time to Finish: 7.5 hours

Looking for an Angry Birds-like game to play on your console? Maybe you’ve only got 5 minutes of game time before work. Give King Oddball a go. It’s simplistic in nature, but highly addictive, and still appeals to someone with no love for mobile gaming.

Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC

Estimated Time to Finish: 4.5 hours

Want something a little more mainstream? You may enjoy the prospect of open worlds, but find their expansiveness daunting. Give Freedom Cry a chance. Originally DLC for Black Flag, it is now its own standalone experience. It offers all the variety of Black Flag, from story missions, to open sea ship combat, to hunting, but in a compact form. It feels a little clunky to control after recently playing Origins, but its story of slavery is enough of a reason to play all on its own.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC

Estimated Time to Finish: 8 hours

I’m not a big Call of Duty fan. I highly enjoyed Advanced Warfare but have thought of the majority of the series as merely ok. I was unsurprised to find the entry with the ‘best campaign’ did little to change my opinion, despite the fresh coat of paint, but was blindsided by the multiplayer. Wall running, kill streaks and online play have never appealed to me, but the map design and shooting feels so solid in this multiplayer that I truly became addicted to it for a short period of time.

The Evil Within

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC

Estimated Time to Finish: 12 hours

Horror games are very hit or miss for me. It took me 4 years to finish the terrifying Outlast, I stopped playing Alien: Isolation because of the anxiety it induced and yet adored Resident Evil 7. The Evil Within can be stressful at times, but is overall a fun third person shooter with horror elements. It isn’t as hard as everyone claimed it to be on release and the story is grounded in nonsensicalness. Give it a go, it’s nowhere near as scary as you think, and that’s a good thing.

Transformers: Devastation

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC

Estimated Time to Finish: 5.5 hours

It isn’t the best Transformers game around, Fall of Cybertron still holds that mantle, but the second Platinum Games entry on our list is still a fun time. From the art style, to the story, to the combat, everything feels like it was extracted from the 80’s cartoons. If you have any nostalgia for this brand, and want to pummel decepticons mindlessly, this is for you.

Thomas Was Alone

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Vita and Mobile

Estimated Time to Finish: 3.5 hours

The last game on our list is an indie darling from last gen. Thomas Was Alone is literally a game about the emotions and aspirations of two dimensional squares. Visually it looks like a puzzle platformer made in a game jam. Yet its charming dialogue and wholesome narration made me actually, genuinely, care about rectangles.